Zombie love: It’s not as odd as you might think

In the past several years, there has been a re-emergence of the supernatural in pop culture. Vampires and werewolves have popped up in everything from Twilight to the TV show Being Human. Even ghosts and witches are starting to appear more and more in all kinds of media.

But the biggest materialization of the supernatural has to be zombies. It’s a genre that has been greatly stretched and done in many forms, from a multitude of films to comic books to video games and even a television show. So, watching the movie Warm Bodies, the question stands: How do you make it fresh?

The answer: Make zombies romantic.

This new angle on zombie lore, of course, takes place after a zombie epidemic. R, a very unique zombie, encounters a human girl, Julie, and rescues her from a zombie attack. The two form a relationship as Julie realizes that R is not like the other zombies. As they struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human — creating a chain of events that become exciting, romantic and comical. His new start at life begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.

Talk about a film that is hard to sell the concept to people. A zombie falls in love with a girl? Ridiculous idea, right? Well I can say it works better than one might think. Warm Bodies offers a fresh take on the zombie genre, but the core of the story isn’t as new as you might think. Most of you have seen this movie already and just don’t know it because it was called Romeo and Juliet. That’s right, Warm Bodies is a new packaging for the classic Shakespeare tale and it works well for it.

The story is a little on the tweenish side. But the material is handled in a light-hearted manner, subtracting the scares of a normal zombie movie and adding in comedy infused with some clever irony. It does take some liberties with past zombie lore, changing some things to fit the convention of the story that diehard zombie fans might not like. The soundtrack is spot on, highlighting each scene in the right manner and is used resourcefully.

Nicholas Hoult was the perfect cast for our undead emo protagonist. He is pleasant to watch and oozes with charm throughout. Rob Corddry is thoroughly entertaining as R’s frustrated zombie friend M. Teresa Palmer serves well as the pretty face Julie but doesn’t really stand out in her role. John Malkovich, who plays the leader of the last remnants of humanity and Julie’s dad, is in collecting-a-paycheck mode and it shows.

Overall, Warm Bodies is an entertaining, comedic and fresh film. It’s a natural step in the progression of the genre. It’s not without its flaws, but it offers a bit of something new to watch at the cinema. Love and zombies is a match made in apocalyptic paradise.